I'll let Heather introduce herself, but please take a look at her blog, Frolicking Through Cyberspace.
I LOVE picture books. Lucky for me, as a librarian and mom of three, I am constantly immersed in them. There are so many picture books that I love, it’s hard to narrow them down to ten. I didn’t want to just list all my favorite books from childhood but I am quite certain that my picture book, BEDTIME MONSTER, was somehow inspired by my love of WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE when I was a kid. This is a list of some of the picture books that I go back to time and again. (I didn’t include THE ROOM OF WONDERS because this is Sergio’s blog, but man I love that little collector!)
1. RICHARD SCARRY’S WHAT DO PEOPLE DO ALL DAY? was my absolute favorite book when I was a kid. (The original 94-page version, not the abridged.) There is just so much going on in this book. I love everything about this book down to the endpapers that feature all of the Busytown characters. I love how the characters do all sorts of silly things wrong, yet still manage to keep Busytown going. I love that the book simply shows the things that people do. I learned about commerce, building, mail, travel, policemen, firemen, farming, forestry, electricity, cotton, bread, water, and no, I did not feel like I was learning. The cutaway drawings showing what goes on inside of things like a ship and a paper company are fun. There is so much detail on every page. I’ve spent hours poring over that book. I still have my original copy. The cover has come loose but I still keep it on a special shelf. This book definitely has a place in my heart.
2. PUT ME IN THE ZOO by Robert Lopshire is another favorite from childhood that I rediscovered at a book sale. There's a big animal who has red spots and he wants to live in the zoo. Why shouldn't he? He's big and spotted and of an unknown species. But the zookeepers don't think he's any good. When they throw him out he runs into two kids and shows them why he should be in the zoo. He can do all sorts of tricks with his spots like change their color, put them on things such as a cat and a hat, juggle them, and even make them into socks! It's got fun rhyming text and great simple visuals.
3. APPELEMANDO’S DREAMS by Patricia Polacco is about a boy who lives in a drab town, but his dreams are so vivid that they come right out of the top of his head. His friends love his dre
1. RICHARD SCARRY’S WHAT DO PEOPLE DO ALL DAY? was my absolute favorite book when I was a kid. (The original 94-page version, not the abridged.) There is just so much going on in this book. I love everything about this book down to the endpapers that feature all of the Busytown characters. I love how the characters do all sorts of silly things wrong, yet still manage to keep Busytown going. I love that the book simply shows the things that people do. I learned about commerce, building, mail, travel, policemen, firemen, farming, forestry, electricity, cotton, bread, water, and no, I did not feel like I was learning. The cutaway drawings showing what goes on inside of things like a ship and a paper company are fun. There is so much detail on every page. I’ve spent hours poring over that book. I still have my original copy. The cover has come loose but I still keep it on a special shelf. This book definitely has a place in my heart.
2. PUT ME IN THE ZOO by Robert Lopshire is another favorite from childhood that I rediscovered at a book sale. There's a big animal who has red spots and he wants to live in the zoo. Why shouldn't he? He's big and spotted and of an unknown species. But the zookeepers don't think he's any good. When they throw him out he runs into two kids and shows them why he should be in the zoo. He can do all sorts of tricks with his spots like change their color, put them on things such as a cat and a hat, juggle them, and even make them into socks! It's got fun rhyming text and great simple visuals.
3. APPELEMANDO’S DREAMS by Patricia Polacco is about a boy who lives in a drab town, but his dreams are so vivid that they come right out of the top of his head. His friends love his dre
1 Comments on Heather Burnell's Picture Book List, last added: 4/14/2011
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By: Keith Schoch ,
on 3/15/2011
Blog: Teach with Picture Books (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: book giveaway, mentor texts, writer's workshop, teaching with picture books, writer's craft, picture book lists, writing instruction, Add a tag
In fact,
You know the importance of using mentor texts when teaching author's craft to your young writers. But how do you- a busy teacher with only so many hours in a day - find great mentor texts? With so many children's books available and so little time to peruse them all, matching books to writers' workshop minilessons remains a challenge.
That challenge is met in I Can Write Like That! A Guide to Mentor Texts and Craft Studies for Writers' Workshop, K-6
, an International Reading Association title by Susan Ehmann and Kellyann Gayer. The excerpt above appears on the book's back cover, along with this:
In these pages you'll discover engaging fiction and nonfiction children's books and ideas for using them to their maximum potential as teaching tools. And you will find new ways to give your students a priceless gift - exemplary models for their own writing. Realize the reward of having your students listen to a well-written story then identify the author's craft and say, "I can write like that!"
Four years in the making, I Can Write Like That! serves as an invaluable resource if you're seeking to accomplish the following:
- Build a library of mentor texts;
- Uncover all that you can teach from each book in your growing mentor library, whether it be from an old favorite or a new discovery;
- Find the perfect mentor texts to teach specific craft elements; or
- Locate age-appropriate craft studies that support your writing curriculum and further serve as models as you develop craft studies of your own. (pp. 5, 6)
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7 Comments on I Can Write Like That: Focusing on Mentor Texts, last added: 3/17/2011
I love this list! I don't know all your faves but I'm going to check them out-- they must say a lot about you... Fun stuff, Heather! Thanks, Sergio!